A wide variety of means exist for communication between users. For example, a user may conduct phone calls via a home phone, work phone, and mobile phone. In addition, users may also communicate using devices such as PC's, PDA's, pagers, etc. using manners of communicating as email and instant messaging.
Unfortunately, managing such a wide variety of communication means can be difficult. In particular, as a user changes location, communication with the user may vary. For example, while on travel, it may only be possible to reach a user by mobile phone. However, the user may best be reached by email while at work. Also, the user may wish to implement various rules for receiving and controlling communications. For example, to be reached at home, the user may want the home phone to ring three times before forwarding the call to a mobile phone. As another example, the user may wish to be paged each time an email is received from a particular person while away from the office.
Typically, to implement communication management, a person must individually manage each communication device separately. Thus, when the user wishes to change how communication is managed, the user may have to deal with numerous devices and, perhaps, service centers.
Further, conventional systems offer limited incoming call management options. One common option in conventional systems is “Caller ID,” which enables a receiving party to view a calling party's telephone number. Some systems, (e.g., digital cell phones) automatically store all incoming calls in a rolling list as they are received. However, such systems typically provide limited FIFO storage and usually store only the received numbers. Further, current systems do not allow users to retrieve contact information from a calling party number on demand and to add contact information to a contact list. Also, with current systems, users cannot easily select a listing from multiple listings.
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to obviating one or more of the issues set forth above.